Businesses to benefit from festival

17 Oct 2011

Southbank businesses are set for a huge boost during the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival (MFWF) next March thanks to a massive marketing push being given to Melbourne’s riverfront during the festival.

The 2012 MFWF sees the 20-day festival celebrate its 20th anniversary and Southbank is the location for the official launch with a spectacular weekend on the riverfront on March 3-5.

The weekend will include events and happenings all along the river, from Princes Bridge, down to Docklands.

The MFWF may not be until March next year, but already its organisation is in full swing, with many events finalised and minor details being completed for others.

The opening weekend will be terrific for all Southbank businesses. Businesses hosting events will have great patronage and exposure and the benefits will flow on to others simply from the increased number of people visiting Southbank.

The festival will open on the Friday with the Long Lunch, this year to be held in Alexandra Park. From there guests will be encouraged to follow the path of the Yarra River, to discover all the events of the weekend.

In a presentation to members of the Yarra River Business Association (YRBA) during September, MFWF marketing manager Ellie Roland posed the question: “What is the evocative, exciting area of Melbourne?” and duly answered: “We think that it is the river.”

Yarra River Business Association president John Ahern agreed, saying: “The festival management recognises the lower Yarra River as being the heart and soul of modern Melbourne and a place that embodies the best of our city’s dining, so what better place to locate one of the world’s greatest food and wine events?”

Mr Ahern was ecstatic the MFWF had chosen the area to focus its first feature weekend and said the benefits would be massive for the whole riverfront of Melbourne.

“It’s a gilt-edged opportunity to reinforce the dining credentials of the precinct and I encourage all relevant businesses to leverage from it. It’s probably the biggest opportunity we have had since the Commonwealth Games,” he said.